About Loom Dude

Gregory "Artman Greg" Huff is a published artist who resides in New Jersey. He utilizes a variety of media in his work, including oils, watercolor, scratchboard, collage, photography, and loom knitting. He is the author of the recently self-published e-book, Pause. Reflect. Create! A Devotional for Creative Christians. Learn more about the book at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/608325 .

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Well, Halloween's almost here, and I haven't finished making my simple knitted Halloween costume for a child: a ghost ~

If you have two days to do nothing but knit on the loom, you can get yours done in time. Here are the directions:

On the Knifty Knitter blue loom, I added 1 peg to the corner and am currently knitting stockinette 1 over 2 stitches using Red Heart White yarn. My goal is to knit a piece that is 24 inches long and bind it off the loom. Then I will knit another piece identical to it and join the two pieces together, being careful to leave a hole for a child's head to go through - about 12 inches. Next, on 31 pegs (1 peg is a corner peg) I will knit off a 10" piece that will be used as the hood. I will bind it off and then attach the bottom corner of the hood to the neckline of the costume. After that I will block the entire piece and it will be ready for wearing. If oyu try it, let me know!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Hello, one and all! I have been away for quite some time due to various reasons, but now I return with a new doll.

While I was not blogging, I was still working on creative projects, and this doll was one of them. It is a unisex doll, and anyone with intermediate beginner loom knitting skills can enjoy making it. I chose to make this a black doll, though it could be any color, based on whatever yarn you have on hand. The yarn I used is the Lion Brand Thick & Quick black. To make this doll I used the flower loom, spool loom and the blue round loom from the Knifty Knitter series. I also used a hand towel roll (the round cardboard tube that the hand towels are wrapped around) which I cut to 5”, and a piece of black construction paper.

The arms and legs are knit 1 over 2 stockinette stitches on the spool loom , with the 4” long arms knit on the 5 peg end and the 5” long legs knit on 5 pegs of the 8 peg end. After knitting them and setting them aside, I wrapped the paper towel roll with black construction paper and taped it to the roll. I then traced around the roll end twice onto a separate piece of black construction paper and cut out the circles. At one end of the towel roll I taped the construction paper circle over the hole. Then I poured a handful of pony beads into the roll and sealed the other end with the second circle of black construction paper. I knit the 6” long body using 1 over 2 stockinette stitches on all pegs of the flower loom, with a drawstring cast on and bind off. I then turned the finished body inside out and stretched it over the construction paper wrapped hand towel roll, cinching the body shut over each end.

The head is made 1 over 2 stock-inette stitches on the 8 peg end of the spool loom for 12 rows, with a draw-string cast on and bind off. I turned the head inside out, cinched one end shut and sewed on the lips with red yarn and the eyes with white and black yarn. The hair I sewed on using the black yarn. After sewing, the yarn can be gently combed with a large tooth comb if you prefer the doll to have curly hair instead of dreadlocks. After stuffing the head with batting and shaping it, I cinched the remaining end shut and sewed the head onto the doll. Next I sewed the arms on near the head. On the bottom of the roll I tucked the yarn tail into the inside of the body and sewed on the legs.I used whatever yarn I had leftover on hand from my stash to create the clothing on the blue round loom: a tunic for the man doll, and a long dress with a head wrap for the woman doll. For the necklace I strung tiny pony beads onto some thread and tied it around the doll’s neck. This helps to cover the area where the doll’s head is attached to the body. And you’re done! This doll was fun to make, and perhaps the most fun is shaking it to hear it rattle and watch the hair bounce around wildly!

For a sturdier construction of your doll, substitute a wooden dowel or piece of pvc pipe cut to the length and diameter of the tissue paper roll.